Fall Quarter (100C) Course Description: This course introduces specific knowledge about compositional practices of the Baroque era, with special emphasis on counterpoint and imitation. We will develop skills in the composition of tonal melody and small-scale development; there will also be some application of the principles of counterpoint to Modern music. The material of the course is mostly informed by the style of J. S. Bach, but we will also investigate the music of his predecessors, contemporaries, and followers.

Regular assignments will include composition exercises, as well as the analysis of short compositions in a variety of 18th- century styles. Each student will complete three small composition projects (a binary form in the style of a dance suite, a two-part invention, and a three-part canon), and a final project in which all principles will be displayed in a fully formed prelude and three-part fugue.

Objectives:1. Understand the art of 18th-century melodic and harmonic writing in detail.2. Proficiency in the advanced challenges of musicianship in the tonal language.3. Build on your foundational knowledge of basic tonal harmony, and expand it to include principles of rhythmic clarity, development, and imitation.4. Gain proficiency in contrapuntal writing, and complete an effective Prelude and Fugue project

*If you are absent, without an advance arrangement, from a total of 5 meetings, including musicianship labs, or a total of 3 musicianship labs, then you will not earn a passing grade in the course.More about grading:

My late-assignments policy is that students with late work should make an appointment to see me outside of class, and bring whatever “catch up” work they have to the appointment. (Or if you turn it in late, I keep it on a pile next to my piano.) In that meeting, I’ll do my best to get you back on track for the big projects, and when the big project comes in, I use the late work in combination with the big project as a basis for deciding what kind of back-credit to give you in lieu of “zeros.”

The advantage is that with good work on major projects, you can get C+/B- averages on homework that you did late. The disadvantage is that the feedback you get won’t be as thorough, ongoing, or cumulative, and you won’t have written comments from me, to refer back to, as you’re working on assignments in the next phase of the course. The disadvantage is very large — learning a style is like learning a language, and you can’t do it by “catching up” at the last minute.

One last note about grading: for me, grades are a reflection of what you accomplish, not of who you are. In other words, high grades are not necessarily given to ‘deserving students’, but rather to deserving accomplishments. Low grades are the same – in no way do they reflect my opinion of you or your potential. If you are ever uncertain about why I’ve given any particular assessment, please come to me with questions. I’ll be happy that you want to know more about what was expected in that assignment. I want this class to be, as much as possible, an exchange of questions and ideas. The written evaluations that will supplement your grade at the end of the quarter are only a small part of that conversation.

MORE ABOUT THE COURSETo get the most out of this course, consider:

Being there: Regardless of any reason for absence, students are responsible for compensating whatever work they have missed when they are gone. Please let me know about absences that result from health conditions, family emergencies, or major transportation accidents, and so on. Other reasons – don’t feel the need to contact me with an apology, instead, just catch up and seek my help when you need it. In any case of absence, be sure to check with a classmate for information about what was discussed on that day, and get a clear sense of all new assignments.

Performance anxiety: In class, we’ll work on your skills and your musical literacy in a direct and conversational way. But I’m never interested in getting you to prove anything on the spot. Please consider our classroom conversation to be a type of “group practice” – we are working on this together, and students should help each other in a spirit of collaboration.

Deadlines: Please complete your assignments in clear hand-written notation, with a pencil, and get them in on time! Late assignments will be accepted but they will not receive full credit and I cannot guarantee that I will give them thorough comments.

Email: I love email! I reply to most emails religiously and with pleasure. Especially if you’re writing to me about the materials and the ideas that we discuss in class or in your assignments. But please don’t send email with explanations of your lateness on an assignment, or absence from class…those issues are better discussed in person.

Fall Quarter (100A) Course Description: HARMONY and FORM in 19th CENTURY MUSIC. Whereas 100A emphasizes late baroque (1700-1760+) composition techniques and their influences on later composers, 100B will focus on unprecedented aspects of 19th century composition. These include the weakening of tonal hierarchy, and the increasing importance of smaller melodic ideas in ever-expanding forms. We’ll begin by using skills from 100A to analyze some of the more difficult ‘proto-Romantic’ pieces by composers like Haydn and Mozart, and then expand our discussion of harmony and form to compare later composers such as Liszt, Wagner, and Brahms. The second half of the quarter will explore the erosion of the tonal system in the music of Strauss, Debussy, Ravel, and the “Second Viennese School.” There will likely be two projects involving thorough linear melodic- and harmonic- analysis of small pieces, and one compositional project, the details of which you will establish in consultation with the instructor.Winter Quarter (100B) Course Description: THEORIES and PRACTICES of 20th CENTURY MUSIC. In this course we will analyze dodecaphonic, integral serial, and post-serial music (including examples from the Second Viennese School, Messaien, and the Darmstadt School, as well as various American composers and improvisers) with help from set theory, multidimensional scaling, chance operations, spectralism, microtonality, and other principles. There will likely be two analytical and two compositional projects, the goals of which each student will have considerable freedom to determine in consultation with the instructor.